Saturday, June 28, 2014

From Comics to Toons: Martin Mystery (2003)

Martin Mystery is, literally, an international hero.

Based on a series of Italian comics, which were imported to the US by Dark Horse Comics several years ago, Martin Mystery made the transition to television in 2003, airing here in the US on Nickelodeon and its sister networks. A collaboration between France's Marathon studio (Totally Spies!) and Japan's Tatsunoko (Speed Racer), Martin went out of production in 2006, and, despite rumors of a planned revival as recently as last year, nothing has been done since. I should note that the comics didn't fare too well here in the US, either.

His relationship with Diana seems unclear. In the eps I'd seen, she was said to be his stepsister, but I'd been told by others that they were boyfriend/girlfriend. Perhaps that was true in the comics because I never saw anything to indicate that onscreen!